Health

PROVIDING HEALTH FACILITES

We have made 17 interventions since 2016. Our health project has considerably has brought a huge relief to the jarra community. Our recent major intervention was extending the labor ward in soma hospital.

Donate Health Project

Who is it for?

This project is aimed at improving the health and well-being of the people of Jarra by providing support to health facilities in the Gambia particularly those in Lower River Region. This project is on-going and two consignments of medical items worth tens of thousands of pounds have already been donated. The donated items include: maternity pads, sanitary pads, catheters, casts, fetal stethoscopes, Preeclampsia microlife blood pressure machines; BP Machines, Baby Weighing Scales, Cord Clamps, Gauzes, Desk Computers; bed sheets; beds and many other essential items.

HOW WE STARTED

WE DONATE HEALTH FACILITIES IN JARRA

The UK Jarra Association on the 10th of August 2016, donated thousands of pounds worth of medical items to health facilities in Jarra. The items were handed over to the ministry of health and social welfare at a ceremony marking the upgrade of Soma Major Health Centre to a Regional Hospital. Present at the ceremony are the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Regional Director for Health LRR, Governor LRR and many other community leaders. 

UKJA RESCUES SOMA HOSPITAL

As part of the health for Jarra Projects, I am please to inform you all that work on the replacement of the ceiling fans at the labour ward of Soma Regional Hospital has been completed. replacing the eight ceiling fans in the labour and maternity ward.Special thanks and appreciation to all those who help in making this possible especially Ansumana Kinteh for assisting in coordination of the whole work on the ground.

PROMOTE HEALTHY EATING IN SCHOOLS

The UKJA work with schools and health officials to ensure healthy eating in schools. This will help students adopt healthy lifestyle in which we envisage them to maintain by laying down strategies in place to accommodate that. Schools have been responding to this program effectively and we are seeing improving in healthy food items sold in schools. This has not yet been rolled out to all schools in Jarra Region, however, it is active in some schools and we are thinking of expanding. 

Medical Equipment Donated to Hospitals

The support was recognized by many government officials around the country. It is recognized as an important step by the citizens of Jarra residing in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. According to the Regional Health Director Mr Bassirou Minteh, this is reduce the workload on the government and the materials will serve the hospital as they were lacking. Several Medical officials also extend gratitude to the UKJA as he commended the them for this initiative. This will also pave the way for the young children in the community to follow suite.

WHAT TOOK PLACE

In August 2016, the UK Jarra Association also donated worth of over $20,000.00 to three hospitals in Jarra. This has enabled those hospitals to benefit immensely from the donation. It was also noted that the Association is also putting strategies in place to be able to deal sustain development programs in assisting hospitals in Jarra and in fact, build news if the funds are available. Items that were donated to the three hospitals includes: Sanitanity Equipment, beds, vaccines, surgicals.

Abba Drammeh, Health Officer in charge of the hospital, has also welcomed the initiative. This great help has arrived at the time when we are highly in need of it he added. There were times that the hospital do not have adequate beds to accommodate current number patients in its care, therefore, he continued to say that he wish the UKJA continue to get the neccesary support in its advocacy, for it to sustain this great initiative. Ansumana Kinteh, Co-ordinator for the UK Jarra Association in The Gamiba also expressed the desire that to initiate other projects to help the region. 

Hon. Abdoulie Bojang – Speaker Of The National Assembly The Gambia thank the Association for its brilliant effort to support the region and urge other associations to follow their steps in order to help the government. The is a brilliant way we can take the country forward he said. He also thanked Ruth & Roy Farmers – Lymington NHS Trust Hospital for their wonderful support to the association. 

Support From Ruth & Roy Farmers

Working in partnership with our great friends and supporters Ruth and Roy Farmers and Katy Lord of Lymington Hospital. They have been very supportive in helping us deliver crucial support to the health facilities in Jarra. Their support is crucial in helping us meet our health for Jarra goals and objectives. Various medical items were donated by the hospital to UK Jarra Association for onward transmission to the various health facilities in Jarra. This is the 2nd consignment of medical items and equipment donated to the Association for the health facilities in Jarra, The Gambia. Ruth, Roy and Katy Lord of Lymington has been very supportive, most of the things that they donated went towards the donation we made to hospitals in Jarra Region. We are extremely glad to be working with them, they made a real difference in the lives of people in Jarra which is incredible. 

HEALTH FOR JARRA

2016 Medical Items Delivered to Soma Hostpital

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Health

The Lymington Hospital in Southampton has recently made another batch of donations of medical items to the United Kingdom Jarra Association. The donation was received on 4th June 2017. The items include wheel chairs, hospital trolleys, walking sticks, number of casts for fractures and many more items. The donations were received with an immense joy and the association is very delighted with this.

These items received will be used to support more hospitals in Jarra Region in The Gambia. The association will make arrangements to ship the items to The Gambia and all updates will be made available here. 

The Chairman of the association also welcomes the donation and expresses that is a sign of a good working relationship with Lymington Hospital, they are making huge impacts in so many lives in Jarra.

What We Achieve So Far

Medical Supplies For Soma Hospital

As part of the extension of the ward, highly quality medical equipment and supplies such as delivery beds, wall mounted blood pressure machines, fetal Dopplers, fetal stethoscopes, drug storage refrigerator, drug storage units, autoclave, radiant baby warmers, surgical instruments, delivery kits, hospital beds, baby weighing scales, oxygen concentration machines, suction machines, manual extractor and some other items are also provided.

Tackling maternal Child Deaths

In total thirty-seven (37) different types of medical equipment were donated.  These equipment and supplies has made it possible for the hospital to managed most complicated delivery cases thus leading to reduction in referrals to other hospitals as was the case in the past; monitor the health of pregnant mothers and their unborn babies; reduce cross infection; provide privacy and dignity to the women during labour and most important reduced maternal child deaths during pregnancy and at child birth.

FAR Funding

With funding from FAR Gambia Ltd we managed to expand the labor ward of Soma Regional Hospital which is the only referral hospital in the Lower River Region of The Gambia serving a population of 82,000 people and conducting 112 deliveries on average every month (1344 per annum). This intervention has led to a 100% increase in the bed capacity of the labor ward from 3 to 6 beds and also improve the condition of the ward to a modern standard with additional facilities such as a nursing stations, toilet facilities, wash hand basins for each bed, staff changing area, lockers for the staff and privacy screens for each delivery bed.

The old structure was also fully renovated – the ceiling replaced, windows changed, new ceiling fans and air conditioning unit installed and, the floor tiles replaced.

These interventions has made it possible for all deliveries to be attended on time – there is now a zero waiting time for women in labor as compared to before when during peak periods some are delivered on mattresses on the floor or had to wait in pain for a bed to become available.

Watch The Handing Over Ceremony

Our Journey So Far

Recent Donations to The Community

The  items were also donated to the communities through the health facilities

3000 (Three thousand) kids clothes including shoes for babies aged 6 to 24 months.

1000 sanitary pads and maternity pads

60 knitted Bed Sheets for the hospitals ● 1 hospital bed donated to Jenoi village primary health care center

Support Us Today

You can support our projects to see more intervention in these areas. Simply click on our “donate now” button below to get started. If you wish to join us and become part the initiative, please hop on to our contact us page to fill our “get in touch” form.

Contact Us

07432246539

35 Golden Eagle Gardens, Birmingham, B23 5GY

info@ukja.org